19 Feb 2010: Today's Democracy Now!

Obama Holds White House Meeting with Dalai Lama Over Chinese Protest
President Obama held a forty-five-minute meeting with the Dalai Lama at the White House Thursday amidst deteriorating US-China ties and Beijing’s warnings against the talks. Beijing has summoned the US ambassador to China in protest, saying Washington had interfered in Chinese domestic affairs and “seriously damaged” Sino-American relations. We speak to Robert Barnett, director of the Modern Tibetan Studies Program at Columbia University.

As Dalai Lama Visits White House, an Excerpt of His 2003 Criticism of Iraq War
As the Dalai Lama visits the White House, we air an excerpt of the his comments on the Iraq war in September 2003. Amy Goodman took part in a public dialog with the Dalai Lama and asked him for his views on the then-six-month-old invasion.

Israel Accused of Stealing Identities, Using Fake Passports in Killing of Hamas Commander in Dubai
Israel is under growing international pressure over the assassination of a top Hamas commander in Dubai last month. On Thursday, the international police agency Interpol placed eleven members of an alleged hit squad on its most wanted list. The team of eleven suspects included six holding fake British passports bearing the names of Israeli citizens and three holding Irish passports. At least seven of the names on the passports belong to Israeli residents whose identities had been stolen.

Welfare Recipients Forced to Sell Food Stamps to Buy Basic Necessities
A new investigation from ColorLines Magazine supported by the Nation Institute’s Investigative Fund shows that some poor families are forced to sell their food stamps on the black market for cash in order to survive this prolonged recession. We speak to journalist Seth Wessler, whose investigation focuses on the impact of both the recession and welfare reform in Hartford, Connecticut, a state which has the shortest welfare time limit in the United States. We’re also joined by Luz Santana, a veteran community organizer and welfare rights activist who heads the advocacy group Vecinos Unidos.

Headlines

Admin to Seek Senate Ratification of Test Ban Treaty
Report: Largest Corporations Responsible for $2.2T in Environmental Damage
Obama to Back Health Bill through Budget Reconciliation
Study: Highest Medicaid Enrollment in Decades
Admin Criticizes Insurer Profits, Rising Premiums
UN Launches Record $1.4B Appeal for Haiti
Second Major Rainfall Since Quake Hits Haiti
6 NATO Troops Killed in Afghanistan Offensive
IAEA: Iran Could Be Developing Nukes
US Changes Name of Iraq War
Texas IRS Building Attacked in Suicide Flight
US Reaches $1.25B Settlement with Black Farmers
Family of Slain Journalist Brad Will Praises Release of Oaxaca Activist